The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to electrical connector assemblies in which an elastomeric insert member is mounted within a generally rigid shell or housing and in which the insert member may be assembled to or disassembled from the shell very quickly and easily while still providing a rugged construction which is also relatively tamper proof.
In recent years, a variety of electrical connectors have been developed which make use of integrally molded rubber and synthetic elastomer inserts. These connectors, due to their one piece construction and use of environmentally resistant materials, are ideally suited for use in the transportation industries and in other applications where it is necessary or desirable to protect the circuitry carried by the connector from ambient conditions. One example of such a prior art connector is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,705, assigned to the Bunker Ramo Corporation, the assignee of the present application.
Although such environmentally protected prior art connectors have met with considerable commercial success, they nevertheless suffer from certain drawbacks and disadvantages which have limited their usefulness in some applications. First of all, it is difficult to rigidly mount an elastomeric molded connector to a panel or other support surface by the use of an integrally molded flange or mounting element, since the materials from which the connectors are molded are not suited for this purpose. Second, presently available non-integral mounting elements have numerous drawbacks, especially in those applications where the mounted connectors are subjected to mechanical abuses. For example, the elastomeric molded connectors may on occasion be dislodged from the non-integral mounting elements. On the other hand, when it is desired to remove the elastomeric molded connectors from their non-integral mounting elements, the required disassembly procedure is usually difficult. Finally, many present non-integral mounting elements have been found to interfere with mating of the elastomeric molded connector plug and receptacle portions.